Permutation lock for automobiles



Sept-4, 1923.] 1,466.81]

R. T. BE-N EF IELD:

PERMUTATION LOCK FOR. AUTOMOBILES-- Filed July 9, 1921 2-1-Sheet's-Sheet 2 3/ flfi'or-nhejfi" Ex 1 In, J P i 3 5 r I iatented Sept. 1923i ROBERT E. BENEFIELD, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIA-NA.

PERMUTA'E'ION Loot: roe AUTOMOBILES. r

Application filed July 9, 1921. Serial No. 4813;388. To all whom it may concern .ln FigVL-of the drawings the carburetor Be it known. thatl. Bonner T. BENEFIELD, 11 is supplying a gas mixture through incitizcn of the United States, residing at vtake manifold 12 which is-the hydrocarbon Indianapolis. in the county of Marion and mixture supply pipe to thecylinders .ofthe State of Indiana, havelinvented' new and engines, and tl1ecut-oti;-Valve is introduced 60 usei'ailimprovements in Permutation Looks in the stem of the-manifold 12, Its internal for ,fiutomobiles, of which the followingis mechanism which includes a circuit make- I a specification. V

I and-break for the ignition to be hereinafter The objectof this inventionis to provide described, isoperated by a shaft 13,:which' is in ans between the carlnii'etor of aninternal connected with a dial shaft l4, by-Ianexten- 65 combustion engineand the explosion cylinsion shaft 15. The latter has universal joints ders thereof. of a: motor car, for cutting off 16 where it connects with the shafts 13 and the gas mixture when the caris parked, to 14 to make the out-of-line; transmission prevent thieves and unwarranted persons between the latter; {The dial-shaft passes 15 from driving the car.- 7 "through the dash 17 and terminates'with am A further object is toprovide means to milled knob lSby which the shaftis rotas insure that said gas mixture cut-0E means is t velv manipulated either Qdirection. set to fut-oft the gas mixture when the Fixedon the shaftllisa dial-plate 19, with engines are stopped ,in' parking the car, the usual numbered graduations for a per; 7 0 Otherwise. the: element ofhuman care ess-I mutation look, by which the shaft s are turn 75 ness will cause'the closing of the gas mixture ed to make or break thecomhiniation in the cut-oil? to be neglect-ed. thereby defeating the usual manner; for which the combination objectsofthein ention. and; inasmuch as is set. 4 i l the drivers of cars are trained to open the Thehousingin whichshaft- 13 is mounted bat erv ci 'ciiitwvlien they parkitheir cars is cylindrical, the shaft being mounted in- 80. to hem; their batteries from. becoming 'ex- 'theaxisof'the cylinder in a boss-20 ,-;o'n the haus ed. one of the principal objects ofthis llpf el' closed end of the cylinder. 7 The invention is so o connectthe gas mixture opposite end the cylinder; llasvii l l cut-eff with he battery circuit that the openeii en 2 which ma es Wi h, ine of the battery circuit must be attended pl e also e fi ded for .a cl sure bv cutting oii of th m xture sunnlv to for the otherwise open lower end of the the encine he latterbeing'nreferab y cutoff cylinder The'pl ate extensions 21 and 22, in be' ore' the battery circuit is opened. I contact with each-other. are passed at right I accomplish the above and-other objects I les h ough the intake manitoldsteinior which will here nafter appear by the mecha pi 12 by cutting the latter ifthereis no niqm Ni tyir d i th p yi draw-f availablejoint suitable for the purpose, and inc in, which I, formed throughthe two plates are regis-i Fig: 1. is aside elevation of a typical intering openings '23 which register with the ternal combustion engine applied tO anautobor of the manifold pipeand-substantially. 7 0 mo ile and-cmh dv nermvin en a, Fig. 2 con rm therewith in size Theplatefll has is a sectionon the line 22of-Fig;-4; showsn ahlereccss 24.111 which is a gate-valve. ing the housinsi' in topplanvie'w l Fig]. is 25. 51. apted in one position'to closethe opene a view'on the lineoFFi r; ilooking in; inns 23 and thereby shut off the flow of gas the'di ei-tion of the arrows, with the mechay mirtnr'e flrozntbe carhu-retorto the enginesf 41L5 n m in closed batterv circuit andthe gas e shap Of h C S is 8 1th asto mixture valve onened. Fig. 5. is a section properly enide' he valv T latter hash: on' the line 5+5 of Fig. 4 looking in the stem'QG'. the outer end of'whichis pivotally dire t-ion oi the a rows. Fig; 6. is a 'view connected W r Do f d l .3: m tal like hut on a larger scale; with the Mate'QSWzThe latter'i fiX d-to dsleeve 291 50 operative mech nisniin open hatter-V circuit I (see Pie; i 8 3 un d 'O i n i ffi 0 pnrl the mwture' valve closed. Figs; '7 t 13; F. red on the lowerend of the shaft 13 is; 10. inclusive. show di'slis of the permutation a disk 30 between which an djthe plate. 28 1 i; i td nd into pian view." are a series of permutation diskstofico- Like characters of reterenceindicate like: operate ith'suitahle mechanism.hereinafter: 55 parts n the several views voff-the drawings." described. whereby under certain b fi nations of said disk the manually rotated shaft 13 will move'plate 28 and post 27 to side the gate-valve 25 in its recess 24.

-As one of the principal objects of this invention is to cut oil the gas mixture when and only after the ignition circuit is bro ken, I will now explain the circuit makeand-break mechanism and its connection with the gate-valve operating mechanism. Supported upon the plate 28 is a circular disk 31, of fibre or other electric'non-conductor, which supports a metal conducting ring 3:2 concentric with shaft 13 and about midway ot the diameter ot the plate 28. This conductor'32 is in permanent electric connection with a metal brush 33, attached to a binding-post 34, supported by but insulated from the closed end of the cylindrical'housing, as shown best in Fig. i. The post 34 is wired to the usual coil in coil-box 35 on the dash oi the car (see Fig. 1.), which is connected with the usual ignition mecha nism (not shown) in the'engine.

Mounted enough further out on disk 31 to prevent electrical leakage from ring 29, is an annular segment 36, which lacks about 4C0 of making a complete circuit. Appro imately 180 of this segment is on the same side of disk 31 as ring 29, and the rest of it is on the opposite side of the disk to which it is carried by bendingit through a radial slit in the disk. This end on the underside of disk 31 is bent down at right angles to form the member which supports a contact member 38. A ring 39 of insulating materialis loosely mountedon the sleeve 29.' it has a radial outwardly extended arm 40, to which a metal segment 41 is riveted. An end of this arm is bent'down at right angles to form the member 42, which supports a contact member 43 that is adapted t be brought into contact withthe member 38 by an oscillatory movement of the arm 40. The opposite end of the segment l1 makes rubbing contact against 'aradial metal arm id, the inner end of which is electrically connected with the conductor-ring 32. The closed end of'the cylindrical housing, previously referred to, also supports two more binding posts 45' and at, which are respectively wired to ama'gnetoand to a battery. These posts in turn support brushes 47 and 48, which, by the location of the posts are spaced less than 180 apart, whereby they may both simultaneously in electric contact with the conductor-segment 36 of the adjacent upper side of the disk 31 (see Fig.

5), or either one of: said brushes may be in said contact and the other not, or they may both be out'ot' contact, according to the position of disk '31, and the electric circuit, which must include ring 32, is inade or VbIOkQIIbYfCOHtELCtlng or separating the menu bers 38 and 42.

The position of the arm at) determines this condition, which, in turn, is controlled by mechanism influenced by a leaf spring 50. The latter is pressed against the post 27 and further against a post 51 supported by the plate Pivotally mounted on the post 27 is a T-shaped plate 52. The smaller foot end of the stem is the pivotal end and the opposite or head end 53 is bent down at right angles with the stem. The shape of this head provides a projecting portion on each side of the stem. That part toward the inside ot the housing is normally pressed by the spring 50 against the edges of three permutation disks loosely mounted on sleeve 29. An arm of the spring passes through a slot in the head 53. The disks have notches as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, and so long these notches are not opposite the head 53, the lat.- ter is held in the position shown in Fig. 6, so the outer projection of said head will contact the end oi a concentric rib 54: on the inner wall of the cylindrical housing.)

5 h and 56 Pivoted on the post '51, is a lever havire an arm '55 with a rounded end which enters a corresponding notch in the periphery of the rlng 39, substantially in a line from the center of the post 51. to that of the shaft 13; This lever has a second arm the end o't' which is turned down to form a head '56 assen1bl.edclose to the head 53 but onlylong enough to contact the two upper disks and 55. Thesame lever'has a third arm in opposite direction from the second one, which terminates" with a hook '5'? wh ch forms a bearing; for spring 50 extended. The permutation disks 54, 55 and each have pins 60 in the usual manner for contact with each therin working'the combination and as a check and aid in setting the combination, the outer end beveled and'graduated to co-operate? with an index pinfil carriedby the shaft The position of tile several parts oft my device when the circuit is broken and the gasalve closed is substantially as shown in Fig. 6', and with the parts as therein shown, the operation in closing the circuit and opening the valve'is as follows:

The counters are turned by manually rotating the knob 18, and through it shaft 13, to bring the notches of the together opposite the head 56, whereupon the tension of the spring 50 against the head57 rocks the lever onits'pivot 51 and-causes the arm' 55 to rotate "the ring 39,thereby bringing the contact member43 carried by the arm l-O into contact with the member 38'.

This closes the electric circuit so the batteryi and magneto are connected ready to tire boss 20 is disks 54c and 55 itcannot release until the notch in disk 56 comes opposite the head 53. Thereupon, the head 53 enters the notches of all of the permutation disks and being then out or contact with rib 5,4 the plate 28 and post 27 to which the stem of the gatewalve 25 is pivoted, is moved to the position shown in Fig. 3, in which the manifold pipe is open and the electrical circuit is closed.

In the reverse operation, the electric cir cuit is opened before gas is completely cut- OH. This is done "for a purpose, as the op crator learns not to leave his car without breaking the battery circuit, because he knows that to leave the circuit closed Will exhaust the battery and stop all further use of the car until the ba-tteryhas been renewed. He is sure to remember to break the electric circuit, and by doing that with my invention installed he is sure to close the gate valve and cut-oil the gas-suppl which with out being connected with the electric mech anism might be forgotten.

While I have here shown and described.

the preferred form of my invention, it is obviously capable of many variations in con struction and material and I therefore do not desire to be limited unduly or any more than is required by the appended claims.

What I do claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with an internal combustion engine, an intake manifold for the engine and an electric circuit system, of a valve movable to positions to open and to close said manit'olrha shatt, a plate loose up on said shaft, a connection between said plate and said valve for operating the valve by the plate, means for devices controlled by said shaft for causing said plate'to actuate said valve to open and to close said manifold, circuit make and break elements supported in part by and operated by said plate for closing and openmg said circuit. and means for causing said "valve by rotating 5a id shaft,

elements to open said circuit before said,

plate moves said valve completely to closed position.

2. The combination with. an internal com bustion engine, a carburetor, a communication from the carburetor to 'the engine, and

an electric circuit system, of a valve movable to position to open and to close the communi cation between the carburetor andthe englue, a shaft, a plateloose' upon said shaft, a connection between said plate and said valve for operating the valve by the plate,

means for rotating said shaft, devices controlled by'said shaft for causing said plate to actuate Stud valveto open. and to close said communication, circuit make and break elements supported in part by and operated.

to the housing, a plateloose upon said shaft.

inside the housing, a connection between said plate and said valve for operating the the plate, means for rotating said shaft, devices controlled by said shaft for causing said plate to' actuate said valve to open and to close said intake. circuitcontact members supported by the housing, circuit make and break elements supported and op erated by said. plate for cooperation with said contact members in opening and closing said circuit, and means for moving said elements out of position to cooperate with said members after said. valvehas moved and before the partially to closed position valve is entirely closed.

Signed at Indiaapolis, Indiana, this the 7th day of July, 1921.

ROBERT T. BENEFIELD. 

